KARACHI
Stock market on Friday witnessed a ranged bound session after rallying for eight consecutive sessions. The KSE-100 closed at 36,223 points, 6 points down with 291m shares value of Rs.12b/ $123m.
Oil stocks saw profit-taking after international oil prices declined to multi-year low. Some profit-taking was also seen in banks and cement stocks. PSMC closed 5pc up after announcing robust June quarter earnings.
SSGC and SNGP also rallied by 5pc after Government announced to increase the natural gas tariff hike. Analyst Ahsan Mehanti at Arif Habib Corp stated oil stocks remained weak after plunge in WTI crude prices near to $44/barrel.
$18.8b foreign exchange reserve data on CSF receipts supported the sentiments. Rising political uncertainty and weak global commodities played a catalyst role in bearish activity at KSE.
Analyst Arhum Ghous observed profit-taking was recorded in the second session. In auto sector, PSMC hitting its upper circuit after the company announced half year financial result of EPS 29.41 (133pc growth YoY basis) due to higher sales turnover and lower finance cost.
In power sector, EPQL up 2pc announced its half year financial result of DPS Re1 and EPS Rs2.94 vs Rs3.36 in 2014 due to higher COGS.
In gas supply companies, SNGP 5pc and SSGC 4.7pc continued its euphoric growth due to commitment of increase in gas price in the IMF meeting.
Bearish sentiment was recorded in the banking sector due to the expectation of another dip in discount rate as yesterday State Bank sold Rs341b of T-bills and yields staying unchanged.
In its weekly report JS Global said, the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) continued its bullish momentum gaining 481 points (1.3pc) during the week. The bourse closed slightly below its all time high at 36,223. The index rallied on the back of World Bank’s assistance offer worth $2b, anticipated healthy corporate result announcements in the ongoing result season and soft inflation numbers for July 2015. Volumes for the week declined by 27pc WoW. Foreigners remained net buyers worth $4.8m this week.
